We are at Wrigley. I still want two of three. I particularly want to beat Hendricks, he is like the soft tossing lefties that year in and year out seem to give us trouble no matter who is in our lineup. I hope they a**rape him for 6 in the first and just keep piling on.

I also wouldn't mind seeing Yu crap his pants either.

I don't know how to post the pics from my phone, but the wife and I sat in the green seats last weekend.

Pretty sweat deal. The buffet back up under there is top notch. Have your own server too.

I sat in those during a game where it poured and we got an extra hour or two in the quasi-restaurant thing underneath.

It was pretty sweet. Definitely worth doing on occasion.

Yeah, it's pretty crazy under there. The blues game was on at the bar so I was going back and forth some.

I def got my money's worth in the beer department.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">That Mike Shildt is something else. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TimeToFly?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TimeToFly</a> <a href="https://t.co/qZa38w9zDv">pic.twitter.com/qZa38w9zDv</a></p>&mdash; FOX Sports Midwest (@FSMidwest) <a href="https://twitter.com/FSMidwest/status/1124045178283732993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 2, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

https://i.redd.it/1uz9bbhamiv21.gif

Is this even legal?

That strike 3 he threw drew an audible 'holy ****' from me in real time.

Poor Dozier didn't have a chance. Swing at it and it rolls to 2b. Let it go and...well that happens. What do you do to a pitch at 97 that looks for all the world like it's gonna end up in the left hand batter's box then dives back at the last second to hit the black at the knees. All you can do is take and hope the umpire misses the call - probably not gonna happen often with Molina back there catching it while barely moving.

It was literally a perfect pitch and he fired it on 3-2. Guts of a burglar and exceptional execution. The swinging strike was overthrown and backed up on him; he got lucky that pitch didn't hover in the middle and get blasted. But that strike looking was just letter friggen perfect.

I had just gotten finished telling my wife that Dan blathering about how good Gant's stuff was was kinda silly since everyone throws 94 these days and Gant will occasionally hit 95 but is mostly just a pitch maker. Then he uncorked that thing and I just had to laugh.

the dude has been nails. A big part of why we are winning. And that video shows why. How can you square up that pitch?

WTF was Shildt thinking putting Carp's slumping ass in the 3 hole today? He has ****ing killed us.

Thats just ****ing nasty.

Putting O'Nieil and Carpenter back to back at 3 and 4 is liek creating a black hole in the middle of your line up.

HTF did O'Neill just miss that ****ing meatball? 0-4 with 4 strikeouts. Dude is a AAAA player.

A lot better looking pitch than the one Oneal just whiffed on.

What the heck do you call that pitch? The "Looky, looky, now it hooky" pitch? The "whipp-ity-do-dah"? Or maybe your just "basically unhittable"?

Did Goldy really go around?

Lot of offensive problems in that series. They scored in one inning in three of four games and had a ton of Ks.

Carpenter now under .200 30 games in is getting to be a concern.

He gets some leeway because he came back last year to have a good year. But, he needs to be moved down the lineup until he finds whatever he needs in his swing. Not to ****ing 3rd. At least 6th. He should have been given the day off. Bet you anything he lobbied Schildt to not give him an off day. He needs to stay in to get right.


If I'm remembering last year right, he was sat for a few games and went down in the lineup before he got hot and back to normal.

O'Neill's biggest supporters say he needs regular ABs to stay sharp. I'm generally opposed to that school (you want 'em, earn 'em) but I see some possible logic in it.

The problem is that he's NOT going to get regular ABs on this squad. It just isn't gonna happen short of injury. And he has options left so if someone's injured you just call him up.

Meanwhile Lane Thomas has a much lower maintenance swing and a more sound approach. He may have less of a ceiling but he has a higher floor and I think he'd be far more capable of providing quality AB's in a reserve role.

I think we've reached a point with TON that he needs to go to Memphis and Lane Thomas should get that 5th OFer role. And with Munoz committing the error(s) that cost us that game while having a virtually identical offensive profile to Gyorko, I don't understand why he's on the team either.

Bring up Edman and Thomas, send down O'Neill and Munoz. Your bench is immediately more versatile and better for situational use.

There is a lot there I can agree with, especially with Munoz and I too think Lane Thomas profiles well as an extra outfielder. It is that we so rarely have grown power hitters in our organization that when the potential that ONeill has comes along, I don't want to squander it. Last night not withstanding he had seemingly matured in his approach prior to the DL. He just looked different taking pitches, which in the long run I felt like was going to make him even more productive. With Ozuna rebounding and Fowler/Martinez productive he really is blocked from regular time. So maybe regular at bats at Memphis is best, I just think he has gotten all he can get out of AAA. It's a difficult decision.

What potential does O'Neill really have? And I'm not asking that rehtorically.

We're in an era where I can find you a couple dozen guys in the minors who you could call up and get 30 HRs with a .325 OBP and 180 strikeouts. They're just awfully damn fungible these days. His offensive skill-set, especially from a RH hitter, just isn't all that difficult to find anymore.

I agree that he's gotten all he can out of AAA, but the problem is that we NEED more than he can give in short stints at the MLB level. And he's getting nothing from this either. So you're better served keeping him in a holding pattern at Memphis than you are having him up here hurting the club.

Because Goldschmidt likely shut the door on Ozuna coming back next season, especially if he continues to play well. The Cardinals aren't paying him $25 million going forward; I'd be surprised if they'd even pay him $20 million. So send O'Neill down, bank service time, keep him swinging the bat, see if he can figure out how to stay healthy (because right now you can't give him a starting job with his health history) and bring him back in 2020 when you can give him ABs.

This arrangement isn't working for anyone.

Lilliquist got shitcanned by the Nationals. Maybe the Royals can hire him as a roving special assistant to antagonize and ignore the Analytics Department.

Goddamn Carpenter is a ****ing dumpster fire.

Did you see when he got gassed at the letters by 87 mph and then held his finish and stared into the outfield like someone would when they really get ahold of a good drive?

I'm just dumbfounded by what he's doing up there. That's just...odd. Like he's just completely out in space.

The guys just such a damn headcase.

This year is different. I argued last year that his early season performance was largely driven by batted ball luck. His exit velocity and hard hit numbers were excellent even though his counting stats didn't reflect it. Then they normalized and he ended up about where you would expect. Similarly, the same thing happened with Pham during his slump last year, and then he was one of the ten best players in baseball after getting traded. This year Carp is making consistently poor contact, which, given his age, points to a likely decline. As he was already under contract for next season and they could have QO'd him the year after, his extension looks even more buffoonish now than it did a few weeks ago.

When he goes cold he looks like he has hardly played baseball in his life. Its that bad. Maybe he will find some magic salsa or some shit to get him out of his funk. They need to drop his ass to the bottom of the lineup until then though.

The extension makes zero sense. None.

He should start juicing

Way to shit your pants today fellas.

63 pitches in the 8th inning. 2 hits. 0 runs. That’s also a team approach at the plate issue.

When you can rarely make contact with the ball, roids wont help.

at a minimum he needs to be dropped to the bottom of the order until he snaps out of this. **** his ego. They just gave you more money they didn’t have to, suck it up for the team.

Fowler should hit leadoff for awhile. Lol baseball is a funny game.

Might get them lazy fly balls into doubles.

:#

O’Neill optioned to AAA today.

I swear to God these one who sucks the peniss personally hate me. I turn on the TV and it's 5-1 with 2 on. The inning ends, and then immediately the Cubs load the bases and some asshat hitting 160-something hits a grand slam to tie the game.

4321

Have there ever been a bigger collection of cock sucking umpires than in 2019?

I cannot wait to never see Wacha pitch for the Cardinals again.

Also, if they could have just hit two goddamned fly balls with a runner on third and 0 or 1 out, they score two more runs and win anyway.

It really amazes me how analytics can be so wise to large trends and stupid to the small elements that often decide games. If you're trying to drive a run in, don't swing at a low pitch with less than two strikes.

Those ****s better win tomorrow. I don't even want to think about the abuse that will be heaped on me at the office on Monday if they get swept. :banghead:

WTF was Schilt doing allowing Fowler to bat right handed with bases loaded? Bader kills LH pitching. Better fielder for the rest of the game. I think that was a Matheny moment. Got to trust my guys.

Talking about the no time call?

I've personally been through that. Got in the box, just get set and look up and the pitcher is already half way through his motion and the pitch was dead center. By rule that's not allowed and a batter is suppose to be allowed enough time to be ready for a pitch no matter if he is in the box.

In Martinez's case the umpire did grant him time to get set and ready for the pitch, it wasn't even a quick pitch. After he went through his whole routine he just stood there with his bat down. How much time do you need?

Happened to Coghlan in the playoffs one year and he actually stepped out of the box but realized time wasnt given and stepped back in and somehow managed to hit a sharp line drive to right. Martinez needs to realize time doesn't have to be given and in this case he was given time, just not a full 30 seconds or whatever he was hoping for.

He will probably break down again. Ideally it is Flaherty, Mikolas, Martinez, Gant/Gomber and Reyes down the stretch.

Not only was the time not excessive in my opinion, the ball was 6 inches inside. The umpire was just trying to prove a point.

Not that any of it should have mattered had we gotten a hit earlier in the game or not let some beer league softball looking mother****er crank a grand slam.

The pitch was inside no doubt, gotta give credit to Contreras' excellent framing skills, but what point was he trying to prove?

It's not shown in the clips but I rewound the play on DVR because I turned my head for a second and then see Shildt out there in front of the ump with Yadi holding Martinez back so I wanted to see what happened. The ump has his hands up the whole time Martinez was going through his routine and then when hes basically in his batting stance looking at the pitcher he says play ball. The only thing is Martinez is just staring at the pitcher with his bat in between his legs. What exactly is he thinking?

The player off the top of my head that holds time every time he steps in the box is Braun but once hes done with his shit hes got his bat in position and hes ready to hit. I dont think I've ever seen a batter get set and then just sit there limp in the box. The whole thing was just weird.

https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/

Go there with the rest of the scum and don't come back.

I like it here, plus I dont even visit that site.

Is it my imagination or is Wainwright pitching pretty good today?

Not so fast my friend.

It’s your imagination.

Letting Waino go back out there for the 6th was epically stupid. Letting him pitch to the 3rd batter in the inning with 2 on? That was Matheney-esk.

Ah well. He was doing all right for a minute.

Did Bader just get to that ball before Martinez?

Okay, I think that's officially the end of the Dominic Leone experience.

Another in a long line of Mo's recent awful bullpen acquisitions.

Leone, Gregerson, Holland, Cecil, Miller

He is preternaturally awful at acquiring pen arms. You could literally have a monkey throw darts at a list of AAA relievers and not have worse results than this.

I'm trying to remember a time when these assholes did anything other than embarrass the **** out me. :facepalm:

Dumb ass Wacha doesn’t throw a meatball to a scrub and it’s not a sweep.

It's six weeks into the season and they don't have a single starter with an ERA under 4. That's really ****ing hard to do.

I thought the '07 pitching staff was bad, and goddamn, it was, but their bullpen was at least serviceable. This is a goddamned abomination.

Cubs pitching looks awesome compared to the Brewers and Cards....

A series like this, especially early in the year sometimes can help force better personnel decisions. Fowler in center was exposed. Waino more than two times through the lineup is rolling the dice.

Our season may well hinge on whether Martinez can get healthy and return to at least close to form for him when he is healthy and whether Reyes can be close to the prospect expected. They also need to make decisions on Hudson/Waino/Wacha vs. Gant/Gomber.

Also ***** Gregerson taking a roster spot up...I get you paid the turd, but that is Cecil/Holland level stupid. While you are at it jettison Leone as well.

Not so fast. Soft tossing pitchers and especially lefties kill us. Been that way for generations.:#



Just my opinion, Cubs starting pitching will fall apart eventually. It's always their weakness even if they spend $300 million to fix it.

They need to make the following roster moves

Waino to the pen, Martinez to the rotation
Hudson to the pen, Gomber to the rotation
Wacha to the pen/IL to be determined, Gant to the rotation

Cut Leone and Gregerson, replace with Ponce de Leon

That gives you the following:

Rotation: Flaherty, Mikolas, Martinez, Gomber, Gant
Relief: Hicks (CL), Brebbia (SU), Ponce de Leon, Wainwright, Hudson, Miller, Gallegos, Webb

Fowler cannot play in center. The ball he didn't get to that helped blow the inning open last night was a 60% catch probability. Maybe he's regained enough value that you can ship him off while only eating a small portion of his remaining salary. Of course, knowing Mo, he'll let him crater his value and kill his value. I think you just have to ride out Bader's bat and take the elite CF defense, especially if you're going to roll with the two oafs to either side of him.

Funny thing is, this team could have done absolutely nothing since July of last year and actually have been in a better shape both short and long-term

Keep Pham and Voit and the offense and defense are both better, plus the team makes the playoffs. Don't sign Miller and the bullpen is no worse off.

It's really like the FO is trying to crater the team.

AGAIN, Fowler should not be batting right handed. Just stop it.
I think your talking about the ball in the gap that Fowler missed. Bader gets to that ball easily. Its still a 1 run game. Having Fowler out there cost us 2 runs. Defense matters.

Agreed. Maybe Reyes can learn how to thrown a strike, grow up mentally and the 3rd time through the lineup come in for Waino. Would help keep his innings down.
You want to win or try to get some production out of money already spent at the expense of the team. You don't think other players know the best option is not out there? If this player didnt get millions, he's not out there.

No. I was talking about a ball that was "in the gap" but it was really more right field that was just barely left and over Martinez's head and before he can get to the ball Bader came flying in from off camera to cut him off and throw it back in. I want to say it was Baez's double to lead off the 8th inning when they scored 6 runs.

It almost doesn't really matter how bad Bader's bat is because your outfield defense is so ****ing bad that you need him out there if only to be the guy that gives a shit about running a ball down and getting it back in as fast as possible instead of jogging after it.

Back in 1st place. I hope the Cubs enjoyed their stay.

In all seriousness, Miles looked sharp last night.We needed that.

Totally on board with the 1st 2 options but I can't take Gant out of the role he's in. His stuff is playing up so much in relief whereas it's pretty average as a starter. I'd rather keep him in the bullpen and frankly I'd probably just send Hudson to Memphis to keep him stretched out and get him to focus on fastball command.

Then you see which one of him and Reyes can eventually kick Wacha out of the rotation as well.

Leone has options - no reason to cut him. Just demote him and let him figure it out. His stuff is solid and he's cheap. With the way pitchers go down, they'll need him at some point. Gregerson, OTOH, I couldn't give a **** less about.

Bader has to start. There's just no other option. And he's not a terrible hitter he's just a flawed one. He has solid pop, has shown an increased willingness to take walks and is a good baserunner. I'd be surprised if he didn't end up being a positive offensive contributor and that's good enough for arguably the best defensive CFer in baseball.

That's because John Mozeliak is bad at this.

Are you sure Leone has options? I read differently, but it was random internet chatter.

Regarding Gant: I understand your point, and he is great from the pen, but I wonder if the gulf between an average-slightly above average SP and Wacha is good enough to justify the move.

As far as Hudson goes, I wonder how much you can teach improved fastball command for someone who is already 24 and pitched all through HS and college.

Should have been 4 outs already this inning

Yeah, I was a little surprised as well. But evidently a couple of his minor league stints since being called up have been rehab stints. So he has 1 option left.

On Gant - put PDL in the rotation if you're that committed to removing Gant. Then hopefully Reyes un****s himself and bumps PDL shortly thereafter. At that point your July rotation could look like Flaherty, Mikolas, Martinez, Reyes and Gomber.

You also have Helsley as a possibility there if you get him stretched out. Cabrera's probably pitched himself out of consideration but Woodford may well have moved himself towards the top of the heap. His big problem is gonna be that he's not on the 40 man so they'll exhaust all other options before outrighting someone off first.

Then again, they could outright that Gonzalez kid they picked up right before the season started with no real loss to be had. So if Woodford gets his walk rate dialed down a bit, he could prove himself among our better options as a 5th starter.

In either event, I think you're looking at a relatively short-term problem given that the Cards really want Reyes back in the rotation. That being the case, I just wouldn't dick around with Gant.

As for Hudson's fastball command - maybe it's less about commanding his 4-seamer and more about letting it do the work for him. Not an execution issue but an approach one. He has GOT to stop throwing it at the bottom of the zone because it's gonna run low and everyone knows that now. He needs to go full Julian Tavarez and start throwing it at the middle of the zone while letting it's natural run take over.

Because right now Hudson's the most painful start in baseball to watch, Wainwright and Wacha included. That goddamn guy has got to stop nibbling himself to death.

DJ, this is your fault.

You win 9/10 but then lose 6/7 your not a good team mainly because of your starting pitching.

The team currently has zero quality starts from the pitchers.

I knew it was bad, that is telling. I am open to renting MadBum if the Giants decide to offer him up.

He isn’t what he was, but if the cost isn’t too high he would be a great add. His WHIP still looks good and he is still getting a K an inning.

By that time they’ll be well out of contention, I think.

Maybe, but every team in the central has flaws.

True, but I fear having an undead starting rotation may be a bit of a fatal flaw.

Mikolas’s in the last 4 games has an era of 2.5 or something like that. Flaherty is a stud. He will get back on track. But, two pitchers don’t make a staff.

We need Reyes to throw some strikes and get back in the rotation. It would also be great if Martinez would get his damn head on straight. He has stud stuff. Get some mental balls dude. Take something to help you focus beyond a couple of innings.

#firemo
#firegirsch

On a day Hudson finally has a decent outing (not having a real RF ****ed him in the first), the bullpen can’t ****ing figure it out.

Hard to win with only 3 reliable relievers.

They actually found a way to lose that game? Wow

we have more talent in the minors. They are just not putting their best team in the field or the bullpen.

Gregerson’s stuff would probably play well in the KC MSBL.